Wine, beer, sourdough bread, cheese, sauerkraut, salami, compost... it's all got something in common. These foods use yeast, bacteria or other microorganism to start a chemical breakdown process that preserves, adds flavor, and improves the nutrition of the food.

Before refrigeration, freezers, and canning, there was fermentation. This was the "old school" way of preserving the harvest and every housewife knew how to do it. The practice became less common after the invention of home canning, and with modern conveniences like freezers, there is virtually no need to know the art and science of fermentation.

In recent years, especially after Sally Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions was published, fermentation has made a comeback. It is a cheaper, healthier way to preserve than canning, and you don't need much equipment to get started.

Fermentation & You

Perhaps you, like me, have already dabbled in fermentation. It can be a scary thing the first time you "rot" your first batch of fruit juice, milk, or vegetables. It starts to bubble and smell funny... what if it molds? It doesn't seem right to let food sit on the counter for several days. You're always supposed to keep hot food hot, and cold food cold. What about the bacteria??? Perhaps you got turned off by some pickles that started smelling like corn silage. Or maybe you tried making "cream cheese" that was strong enough to kill a horse.

If you've tried fermenting without success, take heart and don't be afraid to try again. Every other Friday I'll be sharing some of my fermentation secrets and recipes, my discoveries, failures and successes. You might just learn a thing or two! OR perhaps you might just share a thing or two about your experiences.

Join me next time as we discuss wild yeasts, airlocks, and root vegetables.

Today's post is a primer on ego, or our pride. Ego is what keeps us from learning and growing.

Have you ever watched the movie, "Divergent"? In one of the scenes, Tris (the main character) is put into a simulation in order to face her greatest fear. She easily completes the 'test' because she can tell herself that the simulation isn't real. Our ego is a lot like that. It can be very scary and make us do things that don't make sense, unless we acknowledge that it isn't real. Here are some ways that ego can deceive you:

Ego Create ExcusesEgo will do anything it can to protect us from feeling stupid. It will create all kinds of excuses for why an idea or activity didn’t work. We would rather say skiing is “dumb” and quit because we fell down the first time, than spend an afternoon learning how to ski correctly. It’s painful to go through the stages of being horrible at something. Our ego will tell us that we don’t have time to exercise, cook, switch cell phone plans or do other things that are good for us. Ego will tell us that we deserve a vacation, a break, a treat, or whatever else our flesh wants. These are all excuses, and an excuse is just a well-planned lie. Stop listening to lies.

Ego Tramples Other PeopleOur ego would have us believe we are better than everyone else; if not in one way, than certainly in another, more important way. “That girl is a lot kinder than me, but she’s so fat,” or “that lady is just rich because she married a tycoon. I’ll bet she watches TV all day” or “Susie is so pretty because she spends hours and hours in front of the mirror, but I’m glad I’m not a brainless doll like her.” This makes us feel good about ourselves. Instead of improving ourselves, we deceive ourselves with lies about us (“I’m a good person”) and lies about others (“Justin Beiber is a horrible singer”).

The Good News The good news about this is that we can overcome our egos and think like rational human beings. We can look at facts, make wise choices, and then benefit instead of letting our own pride run and ruin our lives. This takes three things:

1. Admit Your Mistakes

It’s okay to admit that you did something stupid. I’ve done many stupid things, just because I didn’t know any better. Let’s face it; we are all ignorant in many ways. It’s humiliating to admit that we really don’t have a clue about what we’re doing.

2. Learn From Mistakes

Did you know you can build a great career on failures? Many successful businessmen and women had previous failed companies and ideas. Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times at creating a light bulb. But out of those failures came one ground-breaking success. Most of us do not have to fail 10,000 times before we see a success, but some of us quit after one or two failures. How sad is that?

3. Ask For Help

To bash down ego, become a perpetual student. Get good at asking for advice and asking for help. People with big egos have problems asking for help because they don’t want to be seen as incompetent. But does this make them competent? No! If you aren’t open to advice and counsel, you will only have your own experience and wisdom to draw on. Bringing other people into your life makes the learning (and therefore SUCCESS) process 10x faster.

Have you noticed ego in your life lately? What have you done to stop it?

As promised, today I'm bringing you my 'new' discovery, made possible by my brother-in-law, the Mighty Hunter. I had made chicken broth and beef broth before, but had never considered bone broth from deer. If you butcher an animal yourself, you get extra perks like carcasses full of bones. Yay!

Back in the day, people didn’t have capsules and powders to keep them healthy. Everything came from plants and animals. Each part was up for grabs; leaves, fruits, seeds, nuts, bark and roots… skins, hoofs, brains, and eyeballs. These “weird” items contributed macro and micro nutrients- everything we needed for good health. Instead of discarding our deer carcass, I saved the bones and made a nice gelatin-rich broth. Bone broth is super-super healthy for you and easy to make. It’s great for your bones and teeth, skin, hair and nails. This is how I made mine: 1.Put bones in a big stock pot (I used my aluminum pressure canner… probably not the best but better than nothing!). 2.Cover with water. 3.Add some apple cider vinegar (1/4-1/2 cup). This draws out the gelatin. 4.Also add seasonings if desired; onions, carrots, celery, red pepper flakes, ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, etc. 5.Bring to a boil; turn heat down to simmer and let it cook for at least 10 hours- longer is better. That’s it! When it’s done, you’ll have a pot of ugly-looking but very healthy broth, bones, and seasoning veggies. You can get three things out of this pot:

1. Broth: You can strain the liquid into a jar; that takes too long for me, so I just ladle the broth into the jars, trying to keep the bits and pieces out. When you refrigerate it, the broth will gel up and the fat will separate to the top.

2. Fat: I skim off the fat to render and use for other purposes. Would you believe that butter costs over $1 per stick here? I think I’ll use free fat to butter my egg pan in the morning.

3. Bone meat: Meat picked off the bones will have a distinctive taste, unlike chicken or beef broth. I don't really like the taste, so I use the meat in heavily-seasoned soups and sauces.

Happy Monday!

Do you make bone broth? Have you ever eaten weird animal parts like hooves or eyes?

Ebola is not like a cold, where you breath it in from the person standing beside you. It's not airborne. Ebola is spread by contact with bodily fluids, much like HIV, AIDS, or other STDs. The only way you can get Ebola is if an Ebola victim throws up on you, kisses you, has diarrhea on you, or... well, you get the picture. You can't get the virus simply by being on an airplane with an Ebola patient. Unless you come into contact with their bodily fluids.

If anyone contracts Ebola, it will be a family member or caretaker of an Ebola patient... think nurses and doctors. If you really want to avoid getting sick, stay away from hospitals and other places where people are throwing up and dealing with bodily fluids like blood.

Build Your Immune System

Another thing you can do to fight any kind of virus is to strengthen your immune system. Besides not eating sugar and getting enough sleep, it's important that you get enough, or even more than enough, vitamin C. An easy way to get vitamin C (also called ascorbic acid) is to just take it in a tablet, chewable, or gel form.

Unfortunately, good vitamin supplementation can get pricey. The packets I linked to above are over $1 each. If there are five people in your family and each person gets one packet per day, this would add up to $150 per month. There has got to be a better way, right? I found a list of foods high in vitamin C, which is a start.

However, none of these foods come close to the 1000 mg of the vitamin C packets. You would have to eat six papayas to get as much calcium as one packet of vitamin C. And here in Michigan, six papayas cost way more than a dollar.

So fresh foods aren't as efficient... but this past week I learned about sauerkraut. Cabbage itself doesn't have a great amount of vitamin C, but fermentation heightens the vitamin C content. In days past, people would make a "medical crock" or sauerkraut, fermented longer for especially high vitamin levels. I'm sure this didn't make it tasty, but it's an interesting concept.

My last and still enduring hope for a better source of vitamin C lies in foraging. What foods, here in Michigan in our own backyards, are just chock full of vitamins and we let the birds eat them? Think about elderberries. One serving size of elderberries (145 grams) has 52 mg of vitamin C. Now what would happen if we fermented those berries? Just a thought.

Do you take a vitamin C supplement? What have you found to be most helpful in warding off seasonal illness?

Next week we'll be talking about some new discoveries I've made, thanks to my brother-in-law the Mighty Hunter.

Let me introduce the concept of assets (investments) and liabilities (non-investments) from the excellent book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. When you truly understand this, it will change your life. ASSETS are purchases that make you money. When you buy an asset, that purchase earns (or saves) money for you. Assets do not continue costing you after the initial purchase. If you buy a cotton candy machine to rent out for parties, that is an asset. If you buy a chicken that lays eggs for your family, that is an asset. LIABILITIES are purchases that cost you money. A car is not an asset- it requires money for gas, insurance, and upkeep. It quickly loses value as it ages. It is a liability. Houses, unless they are rental properties, are liabilities. A house requires money for upkeep and taxes. Unless you sell it, your house will not make you money. Boats, rugs, food, and designer purses are liabilities. Most people spend their money on liabilities. Their only real asset is their job; this job pays for the house, car, boat, magazine subscription, china cabinet and other liabilities that are not making them money. Likewise, most housewives use their husband’s money to buy liabilities: potato chips, shoes, furniture, home décor, books, movies, magazines, gas station coffee, phones, iGadgets, craft supplies, makeup, hair care, and an extra car to drive around. Look at what you spend in a month and classify each purchase as an ASSET or a LIABILITY. Chances are, most of what you buy are liabilities. Try to limit your spending on these items, so you can put more money toward asset-type purchases.What Should I Buy Then?

Now obviously there is not enough money in your grocery budget to purchase stocks. But what about seeds for a garden? Take some of your “eating out” money and plant a garden with it. Will you miss one meal at a restaurant? Probably not. You can grow a LOT of food for the cost of one restaurant meal. Some “asset” purchases that housewives can make:

Plants. I’ve already mentioned seeds, but you can also purchase fruit and nut trees, berry brambles and grape vines, herbs, and perennial flower bulbs that bloom year after year and often reproduce themselves.

Animals. I’m not talking about pets here! If you live in the country, you can buy chicks that grow into meat birds or laying hens. You can buy piglets, lambs, calves, or goat kids. These baby animals will grow up. You can either butcher them for meat, or let them have even more baby animals to sell or raise.

Tools. It can be smart to buy tools that will save you time and money. A pressure canner, for example, allows you to can meat instead of freezing it. This can save a lot of money long-term. A good camera allows you to take high quality pictures to display items to sell online.

Business purchases. Say you have a small sewing business where you make and sell aprons. A bunch of fabric, then, would be an asset because it will make you money.

The man who buys businesses, mutual funds, rental properties, and other money-making purchases with his salary has a smaller home, no boat or china cabinet. Likewise, a housewife who buys assets will not buy designer shoes or repaint her kitchen every year. She will (like the Proverbs 31 woman) buy a field and plant a vineyard, or use her money to buy fabric and make things to sell. This, my friends, is investing on a small level. When you have saved and earned enough, you can invest in bigger things like stocks and rental properties. My challenge to myself and to all of you is that we 1) ELIMINATE most of our liabilities, and 2) begin buying assets instead. Finally we can stop being slaves to our “stuff” and start making “stuff” our slaves.

A housewife can absolutely shine in the savings department. Why is saving often better than earning? Simple! No taxes and no middle man.

Example #1: Dinner at a resturant. When you cut the check, who gets paid? The cashier, the cook, Gordon Food Services for their lovely cuisine; you’re paying the cleaning guy, the manager, the franchise owner, and yes- the government wants their share as well (both from the business owner AND from you).

Example #2: A home cooked meal. Who gets paid? Walmart, for their wonderful groceries (no tax on food items- yay!). Unless you raised everything yourself, in which case even Walmart doesn’t get a piece of the pie (no pun intended).

Can you see how saving is another way to “earn”? Especially in a household with two adults, this system works great. You’ve got one person earning, and then the other person is stopping up leaks and keeping that money in the family bank account, whereas a double-income household makes more purchases on items that are being taxed and overpriced to pay the middle man.

Your Job: Holding The Money

A good housewife keeps earnings from growing wings and flying away- to Walmart, to Macy’s, Sears, Younkers, Amazon, Ebay… to magazine and book publishers, to furniture warehouses, random people on Craigslist (it’s okay to pass up a deal), McDonalds, her dentist and even her doctor’s office. It’s okay to spend money, but it’s also okay to not buy things you don’t need. The way you will get ahead as a housewife is to STOP BUYING STUFF. Every other housewife is pinning home decorating ideas on Pinterest, just waiting for the chance to go to Hobby Lobby and bring home a cartload of craft supplies. Or maybe she is thinking about how she "needs" a new couch because their old one is in bad shape- she can't wait until Hubby gets home so they can pick up the "great deal" she found on Craigslist. Why? Not because she fell through the old sofa, but because she wasn't keeping her hands busy and had time to think about what she could buy.

Think WHY Before You Buy

A good housewife thinks about every purchase before she makes it. She asks herself if she really needs the item, or if it is just a passing fancy. Where will the item be a year from now? In use, or in the closet? Is she buying out of necessity, or just to inflate her ego because "everyone else has one"? Is she being manipulated into spending money by health care professionals to have a “check-up” when there’s nothing wrong with her? Is that big purchase really an “investment” or is she just looking for an excuse to start a new hobby?

The different ways to save are far too numerous for me to list in this post, but I would recommend starting with my series about cutting your grocery bill. Some other quick and easy ways to save:

1. Shop sales. Most items have a supply-and-demand cycle that changes with the season. Try to buy when demand is low, supply is high, or both. For example, nobody wants to buy swimming suits at the end of summer. This is when all of the swimming suits are on sale.

2. Buy used. Oftentimes a used item works just as well as a new one. The only difference is price. A prime example is the automobile; buy a new one, drive it off the lot and it has already lost almost 10% of resale value, though it runs just as well as the minute before when you bought it.

3. Stop shopping. Buy what you need, and nothing more. It’s amazing how much stuff you don’t need, and how much money you can save by not buying it. Remember, one of the prime advantages of being a housewife is the opportunity you have to not buy. If you refrain from buying and keep saving, you will be LIGHT YEARS ahead of everyone else.

Next post we’ll be discussing the concept of investing. This is my favorite post of the series- don’t miss it!

Every household needs to have an income. In our house, Hubs is the major breadwinner and thus makes most of the money. Of course I make a few dollars here and there as well, but that is not my primary role. When I was single, I was responsible for my own income, so I worked part time as a secretary. This paid for my basic needs and allowed some money for fun purchases, yet still gave me time to “do my own thing”. As a housewife, earning is not your primary job, but it can be fun to earn some extra money if you have the time to do so. Right now Hubs and I don’t have kids, so I have a lot of extra free time. I know my free time will dwindle as children arrive, so NOW is the time to be building streams of passive income, something I will discuss in another post. Right now I make money for entertainment, not because we need it. However, I know there are families out there in a pinch that need to earn a little more. Here are some ways a housewife can earn money on the side: 1.Freelance work: for me this would be floral design for weddings or other odd jobs. I know ladies who do photography or music lessons as a part time gig. Whatever you’re good at. 2.Babysitting children and/or animals: this is not skilled work, and if you already have children or animals it could be an option. My mom had an in-home daycare when I was growing up. 3.Selling stuff: this kills two birds with one stone if you already have too much stuff. Ebay, Craigslist, and Amazon are good places to start. The best way to earn is to make money from something you enjoy and would be doing anyway. If you like quilting and coming up with new patterns, for example, it would be make sense to sell those patterns in a digital format on Etsy or some other marketplace. Be careful about how you earn extra money… it could actually be costing you. If you have to leave home, for example, that means the cost of another car, gas, insurance and/or childcare. It might mean that you don’t have time to cook, which means buying expensive food. The house might be neglected, the husband and kids might feel neglected, and you just might end up feeling overwhelmed and stressed out. This, my friends, is not worth a few extra dollars. As a housewife, your biggest asset to your family is the ability to save money (which is often better than earning, but I’ll discuss that later). Be sure to stay tuned next Tuesday when we discuss Money Skill #2: Saving.

This week and next week we’ll be talking about the three skills that everyone needs to succeed financially. You can get by with one or two of these skills, but if you have all three of them, you're liable to get rich! I’ll go over each skill in detail and how it relates to the housewife in upcoming posts; today I’ll just give a general overview. Skill #1: Earning Obviously you need to have some type of income, or you will won’t be able to buy anything… even toilet paper! Come on people- everyone needs toilet paper. It’s important that we have enough money to pay for things like food, shelter, and clothing. Skill #2: Saving Once you have some money coming in, be careful not to spend it all. In the United States we have no problem earning money, but MAJOR trouble with overspending. This is not just a plumber, nurse, or factory worker problem; it extends all the way into our government. Skill #3: Investing The last skill we’ll be focusing on is making money work for you. Each dollar you save should be a little servant, making you even more money to buy more little servants. Once you have built up some wealth, you are free to stop working for money (this is called FI, short for financial independence), start giving to charity, see the pyramids, or whatever else you want to do.

I'll kick off this series on Friday, then we'll continue next week on Monday and Wednesday. Stay tuned!

If you are a housewife and you have learned to set boundaries, you might have some extra time on your hands. I would highly encourage you to try gardening. Aside from the sunshine and exercise, you’ll also be getting food for pennies on the dollar. Before you start gardening, determine what it is that you buy already. The goal of gardening is to stop buying fruits and vegetables, not to fill your freezer with store-bought veggies and then let the garden abundance rot on your porch. For the freezer, we regularly buy corn, green beans, stir-fry mix, mixed vegetables, and also mixed berries. So for my garden this year I planted corn, beans, stir-fry veggies, and raspberries. I also picked wild black raspberries, and my MIL let me have some of her strawberries in exchange for picking duties. For fresh produce, I would usually buy summer squash or zucchini, carrots, celery, 2-3 roma tomatoes, and sometimes a green pepper. I planted summer and winter squash, carrots, a few tomatoes (most rotted from the blight… L sniff), and three pepper plants. In addition to the vegetables we would have bought anyway, I also harvested some watermelons, potatoes, and cucumbers; some of which I made into relish and pickles. From the tomatoes I salvaged, I made some spaghetti sauce, which we also would have bought anyway. Help! I live in town! If you don’t have a lot of space, you can always plant in containers. Strawberries, beans, peppers, and peas grow well in containers, and root vegetables like potatoes and carrots can be grown in storage tubs filled with dirt. If you have a small yard to work with, replace ornamental landscaping with useful fruiting or edible plants. Petunias and yew bushes are great, but you definitely can’t eat them! If you don’t even have a yard, there is always the option of hydroponics, or growing plants in water. This you can do in a basement or closet. It is somewhat pricey to get started- $50 for plant nutrients, plus money for clay pebbles, a grow light, buckets or tubs, net pots, water and/or air pumps. It sounds like a lot of stuff, but you ARE essentially growing tomatoes in the basement. God did not design tomatoes to grow in basements. Fruit: The Big Savings If you can, grow or forage fruit. Fruit is more expensive than vegetables, but things like strawberries and raspberries are easy to grow AND make new plants on their own. It takes time to establish fruit, so get started as soon as possible. While your plants and trees are maturing, find free fruits like mulberries, wild black raspberries or wild apples. Be sure to ask before you go foraging on someone else’s property, and don’t pick things you can’t identify.

Last week I transplanted some fall-bearing raspberries. They still had a few berries on them!

Spices: An Easy AdditionHerbs are also very easy to grow. Sage, oregano, thyme, and rosemary are good for beginners and come back year after year without replanting. Herbs like basil, cilantro, fennel, dill and parsley can be grown easily from seed. All herbs can be dried in a dehydrator or frozen and used when needed. I dry my herbs, and then grind them in my Vitamix dry container so they are easier to use and measure. You could go crazy making your own spice blends and dry rubs, which will save big bucks if you are in the habit of buying spice blends.Mushrooms: A Bonus CropThis year I was delighted to find a few different edible mushrooms. We always had puffballs where I grew up, and Hubs introduced me to morels. I also collected “Mexican Truffles” from my sweet corn patch. Mexican truffles are actually that grey-blue fungus that infects and inflates corn kernels. It looks super gross, but doesn’t taste all that bad. In some areas, the fungus is actually canned and sold as a delicacy. Mmm.What Are You Waiting For?Now let’s review the benefits of gardening: 1) free food, 2) free exercise, 3) a nice tan. Who couldn’t use a nice tan?? This year we spent around $12 on seeds and $18 on plants (because we got married in March and I wasn’t thinking about starting seeds at that time). In return, we got to eat fresh produce all summer, pack the freezer full of fruits and veggies, and even had extra to give away. Plus a nice tan... sounds good to me.